


Easy Now

by why_didnt_i_get_any_soup



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Art Dealer Anna Milton, Artist Jo Harvelle, F/F, Sexual Content, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:39:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2720762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/why_didnt_i_get_any_soup/pseuds/why_didnt_i_get_any_soup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo is a struggling artist who can't afford to go to school and can't stop working at the Roadhouse since her parents need all the help they can get. Enter Anna, Art Dealer: she's back in town to visit her parents and wants to check out the art show that Kansas University is holding. Of course, Anna instantly loves Jo's work and wants to make her rich. And maybe get her into bed too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easy Now

"I honestly think you should go back to school, is all," Charlie finally admitted, stopping in the middle of hauling a painting onto the table she was helping Jo set up.

Jo smiled tightly, talking through her teeth, "We've gone over this before, Charlie." An older woman was passing by, smiling as her eyes darted around to the paintings Jo already had set up. "Hello, how are you?" she said to the woman, but she'd already moved away.

"I know, I know, but do you really want to depend on your art? I mean, it's really not… _selling_." Charlie grimaced at her own honesty, "At least not _here_."

"I get it," Jo threw herself into one of the chairs behind the table, "but if I were to go to school, I'd just do art. And you know I can't really afford to _leave_. The Roadhouse just isn't bringing in enough money for that."

"I mean," Charlie flopped into the chair next to Jo, "You could go to KU with the rest of us." She shrugged and pushed the edge of one painting so it was lying a little straighter on the table.

"You know I want to," Jo sighed, forcing herself to sit up a little straighter, "but again, we're not making enough money for that." She tries not to grimace as some students pass by, barely giving her art a second glance.

"But Jo, your grades in high school were _amazing_. And you did really well on the SAT. You could easily get scholarships. And trust me, there are _so many_ people out there who want to pay for you to go to school."

"Okay, first of all—" Jo tried to retort but Charlie cut her off.

"Just imagine all the _girls_ you can have in your dorm, or _our_ dorm if I get my way, if you go to college at KU. You know it's appealing." Charlie was smirking like a cat who'd just eaten the family goldfish, obviously thinking of all the girls _she'd_ had in her dorm room the past year.

"Charlie, that isn't all I think about…" Jo tried to protest but Charlie was having none of it.

"Please. I know you. It is too."

Jo wanted to protest some more but larger groups of people were starting to pass by, looking somewhat interested at her displayed paintings. They were coming close enough to hear any conversation between Jo and Charlie but not close enough to actually be considering _buying_ anything. Of course. That was par for the course; Jo hadn't sold one single painting since she started trying to sell after she finished high school.

"I'd just like to sell _one_ damn painting. Even my smallest one." She muttered to Charlie, who was now looking at Jo sympathetically, reaching out and picking up the 4"x6" painting she'd done of a sailboat.

"Jo, you're good but you're not going to sell anything in fucking _Lawrence_." Charlie's face was screwed up in sympathy.

"I know, but I can't just leave my parents. They…they can't _afford_ to hire more people."

An awkward silence descended after that. Charlie was a bit more well off than Jo's family and she really didn't know what it was like to be in Jo's shoes, a working girl. A few people stopped by the booth for the rest of the afternoon, reaching out to pick up some paintings and check the prices. Every time, their faces distorted at the price and they smiled tightly before walking away.

"I'm really not even asking that much," Jo sighs, picking up the sail boat. It is marked as $20. That isn't even enough to cover the materials she'd used to make it.

"You're right," came a new voice, the first person to actually _speak_ to them at the booth, "These are incredibly undervalued, especially for how good they are." Jo's gaze snapped up at the redheaded woman dressed smartly in a sharp suit, amazed at the praise. No one had ever told her that her paintings were actually any good—besides Charlie and she figured Charlie just said that because of Best Friend Obligations.

"I'll pay double for this one," she said, pointing to the sailboat.

"I—uh," Jo had no words, "Do you want a plastic covering for it?" She said instead of engaging in conversation; _make the sale, make the sale, make the sale_.

"Of course," the woman said, her smile lighting up her entire face; her teeth were straight and shiny, and she handed over two twenty dollar bills confidently. Dazedly, Jo took the money from her and dove under the table to get one of the plastic sleeves for the painting. She hadn't anticipated actually selling anything so she didn't even have a place to stow the money; she tucked it into her shoe instead of looking unprepared.

Jo had expected that to be the end of their interaction but the woman was still standing there with the sail boat painting safely in the plastic sleeve and a small egg-shell colored business card in between her slender fingers.

"I'm interested in your work. If you have other things you'd like to show me, please contact me. My phone is always on me so I'm easy to reach." Her smile was so inviting as she handed Jo the business card and walked off that Jo couldn't help briefly falling for her; watching dazedly as her hips moved side to side in her fitted pantsuit.

"Oh my god," she sighed and before Jo even looked at the business card Charlie busts out laughing, her mouth staying wide in a grin of disbelief.

"Did that really just happen?" Jo's voice was still low. What had just happened was huge.

"She was so totally hitting on you," Charlie said in between chuckles but Jo was taken aback.

"Uh, _no_ ," she made an incredulous face, "She likes my work. _Charlie_ ," Jo suddenly turned and grabbed both sides of Charlie's face, pulling Charlie's face into her space, "This is _huge_. I could get _actual_ exposure this way."

Charlie pulled her head away, chuckling at the dreamy look on Jo's face. "What's the card say?" Her voice was smug.

"'Anna Milton,'" Jo reads, "'Art Dealer.' Then it just lists her contacts. _See?_ She's the real deal." Jo jumped up, feeling much too much like a giddy child at the entrance to Disney World. She pulled Charlie up along with her and danced around her friend like a fiery maypole. Charlie couldn't help but laugh along, glad to see a little spark back in her best friend.

"You've got to call her then!" Charlie said when Jo was finally slowing down but the idea of calling a stranger sank like a cannon ball in her gut; she went still. She hadn't even considered it before then. What would she even say? _Hey, it's that girl from the college art fair. I'm a little baby and I totally have some paintings for you to look at. Please come to my house._ Yeah, that doesn't sound weird.

"I don't _got_ to do anything, Charlie," Jo deflected, sticking her tongue out and then flopping back down in her foldout chair.

Jo had played it off but she spent the rest of art fair agonizing over it. Over Anna. Thinking about calling such an intimidatingly beautiful woman. An intimidatingly beautiful woman who was interested in _Jo's_ art. An actual adult woman who seemed to be well off was interested in her art. But she couldn't possibly have been much older than Jo, right? She looked like she was in her mid-20s at the most.

More people visited the booth after seeing Anna buy something but Jo couldn't manage to sell anything else, unable to close a sale. People were continually put off by the prices and Jo always felt especially uncomfortable trying to _push_ people to buy her art; it felt disingenuous to her.

…

"Did you sell anything?" Ellen's face lit up when Jo walked through the doors of the Roadhouse; she didn't understand Jo's art but she always wanted her daughter to be successful.

"Actually, yes!" Jo smiled as Charlie came in behind her with several paintings tucked under her arms, getting ready to haul them up to Jo's room upstairs.

"Wait, really?" Ellen leaned her hip against the bar, putting down her rag, grinning happily at her daughter.

"Yes, _really_. Just one though. But the lady who bought it is an _art dealer_. She even gave me her card." Jo produced the card out of her pocket, awkwardly fumbling with the larger painting she was carrying herself.

"Well, I'll be damned." Ellen smirked even wider, reaching out to look over the business card.

"Me too, Ma."

"Oh! I know her. Anna. She's Naomi's daughter." Ellen said, handing the card back. When she saw the confused look on her daughter's face, she clarified. "Naomi is actually a friend of mine from high school. Anna is a bit older than you. I haven't really spoken to Naomi since Anna was born right after high school. That's incredible. I guess she's doing well for herself."

"Oh," that same canon ball that had hit her earlier when Charlie had first suggested calling Anna returned but it felt like it had doubled in size and weight. Her mother knew Anna's mother. That couldn't mean anything good for Jo…at least if she wanted to get away with ravishing Anna the way she wanted to.

"I can't wait to tell your father," Ellen smiled, "He'd get a laugh out of that."

"Haha, yeah." Jo tried to smile, hoping her mom didn't notice before she scampered up the stairs, Charlie hot on her trail.

"Your mom knows Anna's mom." Charlie looked stunned, stomping up the stairs heavily behind Jo.

"Yeah…" Jo couldn't really say anything.

"That is seriously going to cramp your style." Charlie joked, knocking her shoulder playfully into Jo's.

"All right, Grandma. Let's go get the rest of the paintings and then we'll try to figure out something to do about this Anna situation."

"Maybe you should ask her out to coffee? Like, sit her down and isolate her from either of your mother's so you can tell her first and she can decide if she still wants to do business with you?" Charlie suggested as they slowly descended the stairs.

"You know, Charlie, that was surprisingly insightful." Jo rolled her eyes and Charlie faked being offended.

"I'll have you know, I'm pretty insightful most of the time."

"Ha. Sure."

…

"Jo!" Anna had showed up earlier than Jo and greeted her as she came in the door of the café, despite the joint only being a short walk down the road from the Roadhouse. "I was so glad to get your call." She smiled, her teeth pearly and shining and they moved to get in line to order.

"Oh my gosh," Jo was feeling suddenly shy; it was taking so much more effort than normal to make sure her words actually formed into coherent sounds, just like if she were drunk, "You have no idea what kind of opportunity this is for me."

"I'm gonna guess you haven't sold a single painting yet." Anna smiled, biting her lower lip and Jo felt her stomach giving out.

"Ha," she awkwardly tucked some of her hair behind her ear, averting her eyes, "Yeah, you're the first person who's ever paid me for my art."

"I know what that's like, Jo, I really do. I did art school at KU too and didn't have much success after graduation either." Anna shrugged, reaching into her purse to check her Blackberry phone. Jo was jealous; she still didn't have a cell phone. But then again, most people didn't either. Maybe if she could sell some paintings she could afford one. "Turns out, I'm better at telling other people what good art is than trying to convince them my art is good."

"I'd love to see some of your art," Jo blurted, feeling herself going red at the outburst.

"Ha, no, you really wouldn't." Anna raised her eyebrows and averted her eyes; Jo felt her curiosity burning inside her gut. At least, she was telling herself it was only about the art. Of course it wasn't a desire to see the house where Anna grew up, the bed she slept in, the comfortable little spaces and places where she got in fights with her parents. She wanted to have known her all her life, to be able to just fall in with Anna every time so that conversation was never awkward and when it lulled out it wasn't weird.

"I honestly would." Jo's voice was very serious but neither of them were looking at each other.

"Well, we'll get to know each other a bit more and then we'll see about that." Anna shrugged and then they were at the front of the line. They ordered and moved to wait on their coffees.

"So, uh," Jo laughed to herself, following Anna to a small booth in the back of the café, "My mom said she knows your mom. I'm guessing you grew up here." It sounded more like a question and Jo had to clear her throat to try to get rid of the croak in it.

Anna was staring down into her coffee cup, eyes wide in a sarcastic expression. " _I'm_ supposed to be the one asking the questions here. I'm the art dealer." She laughed, trying to make the situation a little lighter.

"Sorry…I just…I figured that was kind of important. You know, that I tell you that there is a potential…conflict of interest?"

"No, no," Anna finally looked at Jo, a warmness in her gaze, "You were absolutely right to tell me. Honestly, I don't think it will have any effect on our business relationship if you're as skilled as you demonstrated with the paintings you had on display at the art fair." She shrugged, looking back down into her coffee. "But yeah, I grew up here."

It turned out that the two of them were only five years apart. They'd missed being at school together by that one year, but they went to the same high school and had some of the same teachers, some of the same experiences. They'd both been in the art club and done AP art and had a lot of friends in other performance arts.

Anna's parents were really well off and had kick-started her art dealing career. But she was good at her job and she was raking in the money, living in a pretty large apartment in New York City.

"So I'm guessing you're just here for the holidays?" Jo had pretty much finished her coffee but she tilted the cup up anyway because sipping at a drink was a nervous tick of hers.

"Yeah. I take off from mid-November to mid-January every year to come visit my parents. And I like to check out local artists too. We all have to start somewhere so I'm always looking for new talent."

"How often do you find artists worth promoting?" Jo's stomach was churning and she didn't have a good feeling; she wasn't special, she was one of many who Anna had picked up here in Lawrence.

"Actually," Anna stood up, moving to throw away her cup, "You're the first person who's been good enough to compete in the big leagues. And you're not even an art student at KU. I'm thoroughly impressed."

"Holy shit," Jo stood up too, following Anna to the garbage can, "Are you serious?" Her eyes were wide and Anna had to chuckle at her.

"Deadly," Anna nodded, her expression sobering up, "Now, do I get to see the gallery or what?"

"Ah yeah. It's just down the road," Jo explained as the moved out of the café, the bell tinkling at them in valediction, "If you don't mind a walk."

"Not at all, dear. I live in New York City. It's the only way to get around." She chuckled. "Lead the way."

Jo smiled. And started off down the street.

"This is the Roadhouse." Jo gestured to the façade of the building. "My parents' pride and joy. And where all their money is tied up."

Anna grimaced. Talking money with people who were less well off obviously made her uncomfortable. Of course, as an art dealer she most likely never spoke to anyone who couldn't afford hefty price tags on their contemporary art.

"Hey," Jo tried to get Anna to look at her directly, "It's okay, you know? They really do love this place."

Anna couldn't say anything, just nodded tersely, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Come on," Jo gestured her in. The bar wasn't open yet but the kitchen opened for lunch. Some of the usual patrons were haunting the dark portion in the back. Her mother spotted her walk in and called a greeting to her before setting down a plate in front of Allen, one of their most loyal customers. Jo waved back, mentioned that was her mother, Ellen, and directed Anna up the stairs.

"My 'studio' is pretty much just my bedroom. I tried to straighten up but, you know, it was so bad that it still looks pretty messy." Jo's face was turning red at the admission. Anna didn't even bother to say anything, just waved off Jo's concern with her right hand. She opened the door and turned on the light and Anna gasped, going for a painting with a lot of orange tones first.

"My goodness. These are just…gorgeous. They're going to sell like hotcakes in New York." Her face had lit up and she was squatting in front of another painting that was propped up on the floor and wall, near Jo's current easel.

"You really think so?" Jo had her hands behind her back, trying to prevent herself from nervously picking at her fingernails and the frayed skin around them.

"I know so!" Anna looked so excited and she reached into her purse for her phone. "I need to make a call!" She had already dialed and the phone up between her ear and her shoulder before Jo could say anything. Instead, she moved to sit on her bed, listening as Anna spoke to someone on the other line in what sounded to her untrained ears to be perfect French. Jo's heart was palpitating so quickly she could have sworn it was going to leap out of her ribcage at any second.

"You speak French?" Jo asked, a bit in awe, by the time she finally hung up.

"And a few others, actually. It comes in useful in a place as diverse as New York and with how frequently I travel out of the country."

"You travel a lot?" Jo leaned back on the bed, propping herself up with one arm. If she had been thinking, she might have realized it was a sexy pose. Instead, she just watched as Anna's demeanor suddenly changed into a hasty lurching toward the door.

"Yes, I do. And for now I have to go. I can see myself out!" She called over her shoulder and slammed the door before Jo could even move after her.

"Oh-kay." Jo said to her empty room. "Fuck." She huffed out, flopping exhaustedly back onto her messy duvet.

…

The next Tuesday, Jo was surprised to see a ducked head of red hair moving into the threshold of the Roadhouse.

"Hi, welcome to the Roadhouse," Jo smiled a shit-eating grin, knowing that it was Anna who'd come slinking in, "How many?"

Anna looked up through her hair, her shoulders slumped.  "Just me," she muttered through her teeth.

"Follow me," Jo swished on her heel, knowing she looked good in her uniform. Anna's heels clacked reluctantly on the sticky floor.

"What can I get you to drink?" Jo asked, still maintaining her professional smile once Anna had sat down.

"Water will be just fine," Anna finally looked up at Jo, "And Jo, I think I have a buyer for you."

Jo's heart sped up and her smile faltered. " _Really?_ " Finally, Anna smiled.

"Yes, really. We're gonna need to do a little paperwork first. What do you say we swing over to my parents and get it all sorted out?"

"Oh, uh, _yeah_." Jo brightened, her smiled widening into a real smile. "That sounds great. How about I get the two of us the house special?"

"Aren't you working?" Anna quirked her eyebrows.

"Do you _see_ anyone in here?" Jo turned, gesturing to the entirely empty Roadhouse.

"True, this place could definitely at least a paint job… _at least_."

"All right, all right. I'll go put in those orders. You'll really like it. It's grilled cheese with bacon."

"Uh, Jo?"

"Yes?"

"I'm a vegetarian."

" _Fuck_."

…

"Holy shit. Your car is _swanky_." Jo started fondling the silver paint on the Corvette after Anna fished her keys out of her purse and the lights flashed indicating it was unlocked and un-alarmed.

"It's an '04." Anna said proudly, lowering herself into the red leather driver's seat.

"Damn. It's so _new_. And it's a convertible."

"You want me to ride you around town?" Anna said, watching Jo awkwardly climb into the passenger's seat not realizing how it sounded until she saw the intense blush cover Jo's pale cheeks.

"So you can look cool, I mean."

"I think we should go look at those papers."

"Right." Anna put her sunglasses and pulled out of the parking spot.

…

It was a tense twenty-minute drive to Anna's parents' country house just outside the city. The low-to-the-ground car was kicking up behind them and Jo was staring out at the flat planes and patches of trees. She'd never been down 1500 Road before since there wasn't anything other than residences out there.

"And this is it. This is home sweet home."

"You live here your whole life?"

"You guessed it. Looks like the parents aren't home. Come on." Anna easily hopped out of the car and watched in amusement when Jo struggled to lift herself from the bucket seat.

The house itself had a wraparound porch and a rustic feel, brown trimmings and dully-lacquered wood. It was two stories and the  entrance hall was wide and spanned the full two stories, painted like a partly-cloudy summer sky.

"Oh my god, did you do this?" Jo spun around, amazed.

"Haha. Yes, in high school, actually."

"I love it."

"Well, thank you. My room's up this way." Anna led them up the hardwood staircase.

Suddenly, the realization that Jo was going to see Anna's childhood bedroom, her possibly unkempt bed, her piled dirty clothes, hit her and her stomach dropped. But the room was spotless, the bed was made, there was just a suitcase in corner.

"Oh," Jo breathed out, involuntarily.

"Oh? Did you expect it to be messy?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Well, I'm only here for a few weeks for the holiday. I'm just living out my suitcase and my briefcase." She gestured to her desk where there was an open suitcase with stacks of paper hanging out of it and spread on the empty space. Jo moved towards them, trying to read what they said. "These papers are basically a statement that you own the piece and that you give me permission to put it in a database. Basically, it makes your art an official art piece. So now we can sell it and get you a pretty nice profit off it."

"Oh, cool. So, all I have to do is sign it?"

"Yup. It assigns it a serial number and then it's official. I write a description."

"Where do I sign?"

"Right here," Anna leaned over the desk, bending an elbow, to point at it and wait for Jo to sign.

"Pen?"

"Oh, of course," Anna reached into her briefcase and produced a fancy fountain pen but Jo nearly dropped it as she pulled back her hand when their fingers touched. Anna didn't move away as Jo scratched her signature onto the paper.

"You have terrible handwriting," Anna said, laughing.

"Thanks," Jo said as Anna moved into her space, her breath ghosting across Jo's neck. It was then or never. Anna was right there and obviously wanted to kiss her so Jo moved her hand up, right onto Anna's neck and pulled her in, covering Anna's mouth with her own. It was quick and Jo pulled back to see what Anna's face looked like, to see if it was all right; Anna was just smiling, a haze of contented happiness on her face. That was all the go-ahead Jo needed; she dived back in, pushing Anna toward her bed.

"Jo," Anna moaned, hand moving to the hem of Jo's shirt, ducking under it and trying to lift it off Jo's body.

"If I have to take my clothes off, so do you." Jo smirked, reaching specifically for Anna's suit jacket and popping the first button.

"Deal," she said, popping the rest of the buttons and yanking off the undershirt. Jo was shoving down her jeans and was down to underwear and t-shirt; Anna had to stop with her pants open to kiss her again.

"I can't help it, but your underwear is really cute," Anna said, her hand moving to Jo's butt.

"Woah!" Jo jumped, moving into Anna on accident.

"Mmm," Anna hummed, hands moving up to Jo's hips, just above the elastic on Jo's underwear. She hooked her thumbs down into it and pulling the garment down just a little, testing the waters. Jo didn't say anything but she moved her hands on top of Anna's and pushing them all the way down to her thighs, her bottom half now completely exposed to the air which felt colder than Jo realized. Her nipples hardened.

"Oh lord, it's cold." Jo's teeth chattered as she shivered once and move to cover her chest, but Anna stopped her.

"I can fix that pretty quick." Anna said, moving Jo to the bed and allowing her to sprawl out over the covers and rest her head on the pillows. Then Anna took her pants all the way off, dropping them unceremoniously on the floor and then rolling her lacy panties down and kicking them off. Anna climbed over Jo, straddling her prone hips, and Jo was pleasantly surprised at how large and real Anna felt above her. "Relax." Anna murmured into her ear, moving her hair off her forehead.

Jo took a deep breath and closed her eyes, jumping a little when she Anna's fingers move around her opening, up the crease of her thigh and then back down to rub a flat palm over Jo's labia.

"Oh fuck," Jo let out, feeling that first wave of warm pleasure low in her belly. At that, Anna dipped her fingers inside, just to get them wet, and then her fingertips were moving rapidly, side to side and a circular motion, right on Jo's clit.

Jo couldn't resist the urge to hold her breath and buck her hips but her hips were weighed down by Anna's body on top of her and she had to breathe when Anna leaned over and demanded a kiss in a thick whisper. And so she did, pausing to gulp for air and letting herself moan as loud as she always wanted to but never dared when she was alone with herself in her parents' house.

The urges to buck her hips were getting more and more frequent.

"Are you about to come?" Anna said, leaning back almost like she was riding Jo.

"Mhm," was all Jo could get out while she was biting both her lips and screwing her eyes shut.

" _Oh_ ," Jo breathed and then she coming, " _Ahh_ ," and her mouth fell open, allowing a sound she'd never let out before. "Fuck," she said as Anna rolled off her, watching as Jo continued to tremble sporadically.

"Now you," Jo said, her breathing still a little ragged.

"Give it a minute," Anna smirked since Jo's arms were still twitching.

They laid there, listening to each other breathe for a few minutes and Jo was about to roll over and climb on top of Anna when the front door slammed loudly.

"Fuck," Anna leaped out of the bed, faster than Jo thought anyone could move and began tugging on her suit again. "Get dressed. That's my mom." She stage-whispered, throwing Jo's underwear at her.

"Oh," Jo tried to scramble out of the bed too, fix her hair a little and yank her jeans on over her slick thighs.

"You were just over for some paper signing." Anna told her.

"Got it."

They both checked themselves in the mirror, deciding it was as good as it was going to get, and moved down the stairs and into the entrance hall where Anna's mother, a sharp-dressed woman with blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun, was looking over the mail for the day.

"Anna!" she turned around when she heard the footsteps, smiling and faltering just a little at the sight of Jo. "Oh! Is this our artist?" She asked, looking Jo up and down. Jo couldn't even look her in the eye, knowing she'd _just_ had sex with her daughter.

"Jo Harvelle," she introduced herself anyway, elocution that had been drilled into her taking autopilot.

"Harvelle? Like Ellen?"

"That's my mom." Jo brightened, forgetting for a second what she'd just been doing.

"Well, you tell your mother I say hello, from Naomi."

"Will do." Jo smiled and was ushered out of the front door by a firm hand on lower back from Anna.

…

"So, when will I see you again?" Jo was inexplicably sad that Anna was going back to New York.

"I'll see you around, don't you worry your pretty head, Joanna."

"Only my mom calls be that," Jo bumped her shoulder into Anna's.

"I know. Maybe you can come visit me in New York, try it out for a week or so. See if you might like living there."

Jo's stomach gave out at the thought of moving in with Anna. They hardly knew each other but it was feeling so easily so quickly and she wasn't going to have a sex life again after Anna left.

"I mean, I have your email for now. I'll keep in contact and we'll figure things out. Maybe look into getting a cell phone?"

"But cell phones are expensive…" Jo trailed off, feeling a little ashamed of her financial situation.

"But I'm gonna make you a lot of money," Anna lifted Jo's chin, "This way you can call me whenever you feel like hearing my voice, wherever you are. You don't have to wait until you get to a landline."

"True. Email is a little hard to get to, too." Jo shrugged, squinting up and off into the distance at nothing in particular.

"Well, I'd better get going." Anna said, hugging Jo extra tight one more time before opening her car door and sliding into the leather seat.

"Hey, Jo?"

"Yeah?" Jo leaned on the car door after Anna shut it, moving her head into the rolled down window space.

"You ever heard of Skype?" Anna asked, putting the key in the ignition but not turning it.

"Never," Jo tilted her head a little to the side.

"Don't worry about it. I'll call you and tell you how to set it up. You're gonna need a webcam though."

"All right, then." Jo smiled, trying not to cry when Anna revved the engine, "Drive safe."

"I will." Anna waved and pulled out of the parking spot and Jo watched the sporty little car, visions of sugar plums and New York City during the Christmas season dancing in her head.


End file.
